Boys tennis wins finale

September has not been kind to the Patriots.

They’ve been up and down for the duration of the month.

Since sweeping their way to the Muncie Central Invitational on Aug. 29, the Patriots have alternated wins and losses.

With sectional less than a week away, they’ve finally got a bit of momentum heading into tournament play.

Crosby Heniser rallied for a three-set victory in helping the Jay County High School boys tennis team down the South Adams Starfires 4-1 Thursday in the regular-season finale.

“It was a great win for us,” said JCHS coach Scott Miller, whose team ends the year 8-7. “We should feel good going into sectional next week. (We) have a couple days of practice to kind of work on a couple things.

“I don’t want to make too many major adjustments at this point in the season. It’s a matter of playing good tennis.”

The sectional draw is slated for 7 p.m. Monday, with Jay County hosting the tournament semifinal round Wednesday. The championship is the following day.

Heniser, Jay County’s No. 1 singles player, was leading James Fosnaugh 5-4 in set two when his teammates had finished their matches and already secured a Patriot victory.

He had yet to defeat an Allen County Athletic Conference opponent at his position but Heniser appeared primed to take the second set rather easily. But Fosnaugh evened it at five games apiece, and then again at six to force a tiebreaker.

The Patriot junior struggled at first, losing the first three points in a race to seven. But a forehanded winner and consecutive Fosnaugh errors tied it up at three points each.

Fosnaugh only got one point the rest of the way as Heniser won 7-4 to force a third set.

“I was feeling good,” Heniser said of winning the second set. “I knew I was getting in his head. He was getting mad after I pulled off the tiebreaker. I knew I had him.”

And had him, he did. Heniser played cross-court angles to win the first two games of the third set. Fosnaugh took three of the next five to trail 4-3, but Heniser didn’t give in any further and pulled out the win in a match that lasted nearly three hours.

“Just staying consistent and hitting the ball in,” he said of how he was able to turn the match in his favor. “Not making any mistakes, forcing him to make mistakes.”

And how does Heniser feel heading into the postseason?

“I for sure have a lot more confidence than I did throughout the whole season so that will help a lot,” he said.

At No. 3 singles, Abraham Dirksen defeated Caleb Selking 6-4, 6-1. The Patriots’ No 1 doubles team of Frankie Crump and Gavin Myers knocked off Camden Hymen and Alec Neuenschwander by a 6-4, 6-2 score. Logan McGinnis made his varsity debut, joining Darius Esparza at No. 2 doubles. Together, they knocked off Brayden Grandlinard and Will Mawhorr 6-4, 6-3.

“My guys kind of pulled through, got their feet underneath them in the first 10, 20 minutes of the match,” Miller said.

At No. 2 singles, Simon Dirksen stumbled 6-1, 6-1, to Conner Hyman.

“Simon just had an off night,” Miller said. “Sometimes that’s the way tennis goes. Made a lot of errors, started getting frustrated. Played hard but just didn’t hit a lot of good shots today.

“Sometimes it just goes that way so it was tough for him. It was tough for me. I hate to see him go through that.”